"Good Luck to You, Leo Grande" a gentle, liberating, engaging two-hander with two wonderful leads

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)

There are plenty of movies about sex, but not enough movies about sexual pleasure involving women of a certain age. Written by comedian Katy Brand and directed by Sophie Hyde (2019’s “Animals”), “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” is funny, sweet, and liberating, a gentle human comedy without shame or judgment. When you really get down to it, this is just one long conversation, but it’s delightfully frank and open-hearted conversation in and out of the sheets. 

The great Emma Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a widowed, retired religious education teacher. She hires a suave sex worker named Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) for, well, sex. Over the course of the film, they meet three times and it’s always in the same hotel room. The first time they meet, Nancy just wants to get it over with, being anxious and embarrassed by her own body. But by the end of the afternoon, Nancy reaches enough satisfaction. On their second meeting, Nancy has already loosened up a bit more. She’s even made a list of things she would like to experience and most of the goals are achievable. By the third meeting, Nancy and Leo have grown so comfortable with each other, until she goes too far and breaks a few boundaries, wanting to know the real Leo beyond their transaction. 

For 97 minutes, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” is a smartly written two-hander made all the more engaging and nuanced by its two wonderful performers. Sophie Hyde’s direction is understated and unobtrusive, but she naturally knows where to place the camera, as if the hotel room were a stage. Really, Hyde just knows what she’s got between Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack and lets them rip with Katy Brand’s sharp writing. Read the full review at Phindie.

Grade: B +

Searchlight Pictures is releasing “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” (97 min.) on Hulu on June 17, 2022.